Experience the rainforest

Explore the rainforest without leaving the UK. The Living Rainforest is home to 700 species of plants and animals. Watch birds, butterflies, lizards and a two-toed sloth roam free in our tropical glasshouses.... Read more

Schools programme

Each year, The Living Rainforest's acclaimed education programme welcomes over 25,000 school children. Four tours are available, supporting key subjects in the Curriculum.... Read more

Our history

The Living Rainforest stands at the former site of one of Europe's leading orchid nurseries. In 1993, it re-opened as a rainforest visitor centre. Today, with registered educational charity status, we welcome over 90,000 visitors a year.... Read more

Solutions for sustainable living

The Trust for Sustainable Living, which runs The Living Rainforest, hosts a range of events on contemporary sustainability topics, including the annual International Schools Essay Competition & Debate and Schools Sustainability Challenge. Subscribe to our newsletter (below) for occasional news updates.... Read more

About Rainforests

Interact with the rainforest online

Logging

The trade in tropical hardwoods is one of the main reasons for the destruction of the rainforests. Unfortunately, because the most valuable species do not grow close together, large tracts of forest are destroyed to obtain the wood from a few trees. Access is also difficult and the building of new roads has added to the level of forest losses, with settlers often following loggers into new areas. Forestry industry practices are generally still unsustainable, although many tropical countries are attempting to produce timber in a more sustainable way. As the profits are so high and the local populations often so poor, there is huge scope for illegal logging and trade in hardwoods.

What can we do?

It is now possible to buy tropical hardwood that has been grown sustainably (often in special plantations) by checking to see if the furniture has a certificate of ‘sustainable forest management’ such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo. This should guarantee that you are not adding to the forest’s destruction and that you will be helping the economy of some of the poorest countries in the world. However even this system is open to corruption, with false labelling being too easy. One way to help is to ask questions when buying tropical hardwoods and to continue to push for better regulation; another is to buy local, sustainably grown wood.